


Do you know how people who do that are called?

by Sitatu



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Angst, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Established Relationship, Happy Ending, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mpreg, Mpreg?, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Omega Bucky Barnes, POV Bucky Barnes, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sitatu/pseuds/Sitatu
Summary: Steve is on a military mission in the Middle East, his boyfriend Bucky is at their mutual friend Natasha's place and they have a chat. Natasha ends up giving Bucky a biology lesson......sort of...
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 18
Kudos: 119





	1. A chat with Nat

**Author's Note:**

> Hello,  
> I only recently discovered the omegaverse (like last september recently) but I have to say that I'm particularly enjoying it and this fic is me dipping my toes inside this particular universe.  
> The idea for this fic came from a line from one of Claire and Jamie's novel by Diana Gabaldon, can't remember which one exactly because I've read it many years ago, but the idea stuck inside my head (too bad it never made it to the tv series...)  
> English is not my native language and I have no beta, therefore I appologize in advance for any mistakes you could find while reading me (don't hesitate to point those mistakes out to me so I can correct them).  
> I hope you'll enjoy reading this :)

“I've gotta pee!” Bucky says while jumping down from his stool and diving towards Natasha's bathroom.  
“Again?!” Natasha exclaims perplexed. “What's wrong with you dude?” she asks him a couple of minutes later when he's back. “You already went there about thirty minutes ago, did you catch a urinary infection?”  
“Don't think so, it doesn't sting, but there must be something wrong with my bladder, I've had to go pee so many times over the last couple of days, I even wake up at night to go to the bathroom...” he sighs.  
“I think you should go to a doctor,” she advises him, a worried look on her face.  
“Yeah, I probably should. It might be a bug messing with my lower organs, my cycles aren't exactly predictable, but I'm already about ten days late and that's starting to be a lot,” he muses.  
“James?” Natasha calls his name.  
“What?” he looks up at her and sees that she's eying him suspiciously.  
“James?” She repeats. Are you trying to tell me something?”  
“What? No why?” he answers confused by her inquiring gaze.  
“James, you know what bug causes late cycles and peeing a lot don't you?” she's talking to him as if she is making sure that he isn't a complete idiot, but he feels like he is one because he doesn't know what she is talking about.  
“You know what does?” he asks feeling even more stupid.  
“Yeah, I do, they're little bugs that are most commonly called BABIES!” she exclaims, nearly making him fall down her breakfast bar stool with surprise.  
“No, no! I can't be pregnant!” he assures her and tries to reassure himself.  
“But you are late and feel a constant need to pee...”  
“Yeah, but I don't feel nauseous!” He exclaims as if he was proving a point.  
“James...” she sighs. “It might come later... or not at all, some pregnant people do not have nausea.”  
“Yeah, but I'm not pregnant, I was all alone during my last heat,” and that was it, a valid argument, he could not be pregnant, no need to be afraid, Natasha was wrong.  
“Wasn't Steve here a little over a month ago? Wasn't he on leave?” she's still not letting this go.  
“He was, but my heat started only after he left,” Bucky calmly tells her. He could not be pregnant.  
“Just after he left?” she keeps on.  
“A day or so after he left,” he reassures her.  
“And while he was here, you two used condoms?” she keeps on interrogating him and he doesn't know if he should feel annoyed, angry or scared...  
“We did...” he trails.  
“But?” Nat is too perceptive for his own good.  
“But our last one broke as he was putting it on,” he confesses. “But I can't be pregnant,” he repeats one more time.  
“Because you didn't have sex afterwards or because you're on birth controll pill?”  
“I don't take the pill because it gives me debilitating migraines, we are in a committed, exclusive relationship and we trust each other.”  
“So you had unprotected sex just before your heats,” she summarizes.  
“I can't be pregnant!” he nearly screams at her in frustration.  
“And why not?” she levelly asks him.  
“Because we were careful, he pulled out, did not knot me, didn't come in me at all,” he told her, his face red as a tomato, a mix of mortification and anger that he had to describe his sex life to his best friend.  
“James?” she calls his name.  
“What?” he asks sullenly.  
“Do you know how we call people who use this particular contraceptive method?” she asks him with false sweetness in her voice.  
“No I don't,” he answers her suddenly weary. “How do we call them Nat?”  
“PARENTS!” she yells at him, startling him into falling down from the stool this time. She helps to pull him back up on his seat at her breakfast bar and explains to him with gentleness this time: “James, just so that you know, there are a few spermatozoids who manage to swim to precome. They're not as many as in actual come, but they're there... so it doesn't matter that Steve did not finish inside of you...”  
“But...” Bucky starts, but she cuts him off.  
“And, these little swimmers can survive up to seventy two hours inside a warm body...”  
Bucky just dumbly stares at her.  
“You could be pregnant,” she tells him softly.  
After blinking several times trying to process the information, Bucky asks: “What am I going to do?”  
“Well, you go and buy a pregnancy test,” she advises him. “But wait until tomorrow morning to pee on it. With how often you go to the bathroom, there might not be enough hormones for the test to detect and you might get a false negative result.”  
“But if it is positive, what am I going to do Nat?” he desperately pleads for her magical advice.  
And Natasha's advice should be magical, because she is clear headed and logical, she has to know what he should do. On the other hand, Bucky feels so confused he probably couldn't manage to count to two at the moment.  
“For starters, you'll have to tell Steve and the two of you will have to talk about it.”  
“Oh my God Steve! What is he going to say?” Bucky was clearly panicking now.  
“I don't know James, but knowing him, I'm sure he'd love to have a pup, whenever you are ready to have one, if you ever want one. He will respect your decision, whatever it is. I'm sure you'll come first, you'll just have to talk it through together.”  
“I can't have a baby with Steve away fighting some stupid war in the Middle East. But what if he resents me if I don't have it? What if I have it and he dies while on mission? How could I raise his child on my own Nat?” he pleads with her, and as a new thought comes to his mind he looks even more horrified as he tells her: “What if we decide not to have the child and Steve dies anyway? Then it would be like I had discarded his most precious gift, a part of him, and I'd be all alone with nothing but regrets?” and now Bucky's crying his eyes out.  
Natasha takes him in her arms and tries to soothe him. “It's okay Bucky,” and she uses his nickname because at the moment he needs her love more than her sass. “Everything will be fine, you are stronger than what you give yourself credit for and whatever happens you can manage. And also you'll never be alone, I am here for you. You don't have to worry. Besides, you haven't taken the test just yet, so I could be wrong and you could not be pregnant at all...”  
“As if Natasha Romanov is ever wrong,” he sniffs inside her embrace. She cradles his head against her chest and pets his hair until he appears to be calmer, then she lets him go and he tells her: “I need a drink, do you keep vodka around here?”  
“Oh no young man!” she scolds him. “No alcohol for you until you've peed on a test and the result is negative. Or if it is positive, no alcohol until you're no longer pregnant... and if you decide to have the child and you decide to breast-feed it, still no alcohol for you...”  
“Actually, I knew that,” Bucky points out. “I just kinda forgot because I think I'm in shock. What am I going to do Nat?” he whines again.  
“Go buy a pregnancy test and pee on it first thing tomorrow morning,” she tells him once more.  
Bucky makes puppy dog eyes at her. “Do you need me to come with you?” Natasha asks him.  
“Please...” is his answer.  
“Okay,” she sighs wearily, “just let me grab my stuff.”  
“Thank you! I'll go to the bathroom while you do that...”  
“Again?!”


	2. Facetime with Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky follows Nat's advice and contacts Steve, but he's not as good as Natasha at explaining things...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I've had unexpected writing time this week and was able to write this "chapter" fare more quickly that I would have thought. Apparently it wanted to get out of my head and be put into words asap lol.

Bucky's stomach and throat are clenched into tight knots while he waits sitting at his dining table with his tablet for Steve to FaceTime him. The call comes in and with trembling fingers, he accepts it: “Hello sunshine!” Steve chimes happily at him, a million dollar smile lights up his face. But his million dollar smile crumbles down when he takes in Bucky's less cheerful facial expression. “What's wrong honey?” he asks, heavy concern in his tone.  
“We've gotta talk,” Bucky tells him through the knot in his throat.  
“Are you breaking up with me?” Steve cuts him looking bewildered and pained at the same time.  
“No I'm not!” Bucky exclaims, unsettled.  
“Usually when someone looks the way you do and says 'We've got to talk', they're breaking up with you,” Steve tells him, clearly not reassured by Bucky's denial.  
“I'm not breaking up with you Steve!” he says again, annoyed despite himself. He had prepared in his mind how he wanted to break the news to Steve, but now, with Steve's stupid assumption, he has forgotten all he wanted to tell him.  
“What is it then?” Steve's tone is pleading, he's clearly still worried.  
Bucky on the other hand is still unsettled. “Maybe if you didn't cut me, I would have told you already!” he chides him, then takes his head in both his hands and crashes it on the table before him, trying to recompose his thoughts away from Steve's puppy dog stare.  
“I'm sorry Buck,” he apologizes sheepishly. “Just tell me what you have to say...”  
Bucky takes a supposedly calming breath and tries to make sense as he starts to tell what's happening to his boyfriend. “Okay then, Natasha recently pointed out to me that, erm,” he clears his throat, “some seeds from an Alpha can swim to precome and, erm, those seeds, well, they have, give or take, a three days lifespan inside an Omega...”  
“What are you talking about Bucky? I don't understand a thing that's coming out of your mouth,” Steve tells him confused. So much for making sense...  
After another deep breath, Bucky decides that beating around the bush and smoothing angles isn't going to lead them anywhere so he just blurts out: “Last time you were home, you got me pregnant.”  
Steve is stunned into silence, Bucky can see the wheels turning inside his head. After a while he opens his mouth to stammer: “I... you... that's...” then he shuts up again.   
Mimicking Bucky he takes a deep breath and starts again, “What you meant before was that even if I did not knot you that last time we were together, some of my 'seeds' got inside of you and survived until your heats hit you and you got pregnant?”  
“Yeah, that was it,” Bucky confirmed, relieved that the message got through, somehow.  
“Are you sure?” he then asks. “Isn't Nat just messing with you?”  
If Bucky had expected shouts of joy, he would have been disappointed, but disbelief and panic had been his own initial reaction and somehow it comforts him that Steve is as astounded as he was... well honestly, as he still is.  
“Yes I'm sure, the three tests I've peed on were positive and the blood test I took after that confirmed the results.”  
“Oh,” and the wheels are turning again in Steve's head.  
“Yeah,” Bucky agrees. Now that it's out he feels calmer. He remains silent to let Steve process the news.   
After a short while, Steve asks him full of concern: “How do you feel about this?”  
“Honestly?” he answers. “I'm still confused and shit scared. We haven't talked about having children yet and I don't know if it's what you want or for that matter if that's what I want,” and despite saying this, his hand comes to rest protectively on his still flat belly. The gesture is however unbeknownst to Steve, it being out of the webcam's field.  
“Yeah, that was a conversation I thought we would have once I was back for good. But I guess this has to be done now... Did you ever plan to have children Bucky?”  
“I don't know. I guess that somehow one day I would have a family, but not so soon and not with you being so far away. I don't think I can do this all alone, but... but...” he stammers close to tears.  
“Yeah, I feel the same, I would love to have a family of my own, but I don't want to see my kids grow from afar. I want to be there for them, with you... I'm sorry you have to go through this and I'm not here. How have you been? In terms of health I mean...” Steve asks him.  
“Hmm, good I guess. I think that if I didn't have to pee all the time, I could forget that I... have this condition at all. I don't feel any different.”  
“Really?” Steve asks, probably thinking that Bucky was embellishing the truth in order to protect him.  
“Really,” he assures him. “Maybe I'm a little more tired than usual in the evenings, and I quickly get short of breath when I climb the stairs, but I barely notice it. My blatter though... it feels like it's always full...” he scoffs and thinks he should either stop talking about it or head towards the bathroom. He remains seated at the table though, not wanting to shorten his already short on screen time with Steve.  
“Sorry Buck,” he says sheepishly.   
“It's okay Steve,” Bucky says with a light chuckle, “it's not as if I'm puking my guts out like they do in the movies. Physically I'm fine, I'm even... a little more horny than usual...” he confesses red faced.  
“Buck!” now it's Steve's turn to chide Bucky. “I already wish I were home, do you want to make a deserter out of me?”  
“And have you face a court martial so you can be imprisoned here rather than knowing you are in a war zone facing unknown danger? Even if it's far from ideal, I could be tempted...” Bucky replies only half joking, but as much as he hates the danger Steve could be in, he admires him for standing up for those who can't defend themselves. It's one of the things he loves most about Steve and it's why he never stopped him from enlisting even though the separation breaks his heart each time Steve has to go abroad.  
“More seriously Bucky, I am sorry,” Steve apologizes once more.  
“Hey, it takes two people for that to happen,” Bucky says because he doesn't want to use the word “baby” or to repeat the word “pregnant” because speaking those words aloud was scary, it was an acknowledgement of the life that was growing in him and that he did not know what to do about.  
“Yeah, but you're the one who has to deal with this,” Steve tells him as if he knows the distress he currently is in, and maybe he does.  
There is a short pause in which none of them speaks, thinking thoughts too scary to speak out loud. Eventually Bucky breaks the silence by telling Steve: “I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow.”  
At those words, Steve's eyes nearly pop out of his head in an expression of fear that would be comical in any other context, but in this case is just heart-breaking.  
“To see if everything's fine with me,” he clarifies and Steve's face relaxes before it tenses again when he adds: “and to speak about our options...”  
“Bucky, don't do anything you don't want to,” he admonishes him. “I think I still have some processing to do and maybe solutions to figure out, but, but... I love you and I just don't want you to be hurting...”  
“I love you too Steve,” Bucky reassures him.  
“I'm sorry, I think our speaking time is nearly over,” Steve apologizes with an afflicted look on his face.  
“Yeah...” Bucky sighs, not knowing when he would be able to FaceTime Steve again but knowing it would have to be soon because they hadn't reached a clear decision yet.  
“Buck,” Steve calls him from his thoughts. “Don't do anything stupid until I get back to you...”  
It is their usual farewell after such calls or when his leave was over, but this time, the seriousness with which Steve said those words make Bucky's heart clench, letting him think that maybe the idea of this little life growing inside Bucky is also growing inside Steve's heart.  
“How could I?” he answers as usual. “You're taking all the stupid with you.”  
“Apparently not,” Steve retorts. “Apparently I've left some stupid with you last time I was home...”  
“Yeah, you did,” Bucky says with a bittersweet smile and the hand that has never left his belly starts to rub it in circles.  
After a final goodbye, they turn off the call and Bucky heads towards the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though this was darker that the previous part, I hope you still liked it, next chapter will be even darker but I promess you a happy (and probably a little silly) ending.


	3. A doctor's appointment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's doctor gives him informations and another “biology lesson”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS 
> 
> 1\. First and foremost, (little spoiler alert) nothing bad will happen to Bucky and his baby.  
> 2\. This chapter will be hard, it has been hard to write, actually along the way I changed what I had in mind because I just could not put it into words. This is why I think it might be hard to read as well. You do not have to read it, you can wait for me to write and post the next chapter which will be lighter (and hopefully you'll find it funny too).  
> 3\. TRIGGER WARNING: I'll say this again, nothing bad is going to happen to Bucky, however if talking about the worst things that can happen during a pregnancy is a trigger for you, you can just skip this chapter and read the next one.

“Mr. Barnes,” the doctor in the white lab coat calls his name and Bucky stands up from his seat in the waiting room to follow him on trembling legs. He stops a few seconds, gathering his courage, before stepping into the doctor's office.   
On the threshold he reads the sign on the door 'Dr. Banner – Ob Gyn'. His heart beating like a drum he finally steps in and sits in the chair facing his doctor. Despite being a male Beta, Dr. Banner inspires confidence, it is like he diffuses calmness in his own way, not needing Alpha/Omega scents and pheromones.  
“Hello Mr. Barnes,” Dr. Banner starts. “I read on your file that if you've booked this appointment today, it's because you are pregnant?” At those words Bucky's hand automatically comes to rest on his stomach.  
“Yeah,” he answers nervously.  
“Is this your first pregnancy?” the doctor asks him.  
“Yeah,” Bucky repeats.  
“And you're here alone?” he asks again and Bucky thinks he detects a note of concern in his voice, but no judgment.  
“Yeah,” and Bucky forces himself to give an answer longer than one syllable, “my partner is a soldier, he's abroad at the moment.”  
“Okay, you look a little nervous, you are allowed to come with someone else if it makes you feel better, family or friend...” Dr. Banner tells him with a small reassuring smile.  
“Thank you,” Bucky says because his brain doesn't come up with any other answer.  
Dr. Banner smiles again and keeps on questioning him: “So James, can I call you James?”   
“Bucky, I go by Bucky,” he tells the doctor because whatever happens today or later on, it will be intense and he'd rather be called by his nickname especially since he feels like he can trust the calm man sitting in front of him.  
“Okay Bucky, when were your last heats?”  
“Erm, they started on May 11th” he says a little hesitant, “but nothing happened during my heats,” he keeps on. “My partner left before they started but we had a little condom accident on May 9th,” and he does not elaborate further because as unlikely as his situation still feels, it is real and he doesn't want this nice doctor to look at him as if he were stupid – although Bucky does feel stupid since his talk with Natasha.  
“Yes, that can happen,” Dr. Banner confirms. “Then I gather this wasn't planned. Have you talked to your partner yet?”  
“It was a huge, unexpected shock when I was late and my friend told me to take a test that came back positive,” Bucky explains before going on: “And I have, I told him yesterday, but we didn't have enough time to decide what we wanted to do.”  
“It is better if you and your partner agree on what to do, but you have to know that ultimately, the choice is yours. Do you need documentation to help you?”  
“Yes please,” Bucky hears himself say in a trembling voice but he's not sure he actually wants it, and the hand on his belly clenches on his t-shirt.  
Dr. Banner opens a file drawer behind his desk and picks multiple booklets out of it and pushes them towards him saying: “I can see that you are a little lost, these will give you basic information on the different options available to you.” Bucky glances at them, at the top is a leaflet about single parenthood, bellow it is health advice for expecting persons, then one on adoption, and although it has been on his mind since Natasha had told him that he could be pregnant, the next brochure makes all the hair on his body straighten and his stomach knot in terror. He doesn't look at the remaining documents and quickly straightens the pile so the offending piece of paper leaves his sight.   
“There is no rush, you are only seven weeks pregnant,” Banner tells him. “Take your time, read them carefully at home, ask someone to be with you if you need moral support.”  
“Okay,” Bucky whispers.  
“Bucky, I can see that you're not exactly comfortable just now and I am sorry but there is another difficult topic that we have to broach, can we do that now or do you need a couple of minutes?”  
“I'll be fine,” Bucky lies, but a couple of minutes would just waste the doctor's time and do nothing to calm his nerves.  
“Bucky, do you know that you have a rather elevated risk of going though a miscarriage?” Dr. Banner asks him softly.  
“Because I'm a male Omega?” and of course he had heard it say that male Omegas tended to be more at risk, but somehow he had not thought that it could happen to him. He had gotten pregnant in such an unlikely fashion that he did not believe that the life that had settled inside of him despite everything would go away as unexpectedly as it had come.  
“Not because you are a male Omega, but because you are a male Omega with a male partner.” As Bucky squints in confusion at his doctor, he elaborates. “Unlike what has been said for generations, male Omegas aren't less suited to carry life than females. What usually causes the misscarriage is genetic errors in the foetus and not the biology of the Omega. Genetic errors leading to misscariage are frequent in any pairing, male/female, female/female too, for them the risk of a misscarriage is one out of four pregnancies. With a male/male pairing, the risks are even higher.” Banner takes a breath and looks at Bucky making sure he is following. Although the topic is unnerving, the doctor's scientific approach is somewhat soothing Bucky's anxiety.  
“As you must know human DNA is contained in 23 pairs of chromosomes with 22 homologous autosomal chromosomes and one XY pair of chromosome that determines the biological gender of people, biological females have two X chromosomes and males have one X chromosome which is complete, and one Y chromosome that is smaller, incomplete so to speak. We all have a set of chromosomes from each of our parents, and a male/female union gives an equal chance to have a male or female child whether the male is Alpha, Beta or Omega. A female Omega or Beta with a female Alpha will only result in female children, because neither have a Y chromosome that would be necessary to conceive a male child. Male Omegas with a male partner can have a female child because each already have a X chromosome, statistically beyond the one out of four risk of miscarriage common to the other types of coupling, two males have a one out of four chances of having a female child with two X chromosomes, two out of four chances to have a male child with one X and one Y chromosome and one out of four chances to have a miscarriage because foetuses with two shrunken Y chromosomes are not viable and are usually evacuated on their own before the twelth week of the pregnancy.”  
Bucky is in a daze, lulled by the scientific jargon and Banner's calm voice. Slowly, the words seep into him and he starts to realize that this could still happen to him. Logically it would solve his problems, taking away the awful choice he has to make. But logic had fled him the previous day when he had talked to Steve. No, if he was honest, logic had fled him when he saw the two bars on the test. Who was he kidding? Logic had fled him the day Natasha made him realize that it was very likely that he was pregnant! He starts shaking in his seat and tears well up in his eyes. This tiny thing that makes him run to the bathroom all the time... to think it could disappear so suddenly? It is heartbreaking.  
“You'll be okay Bucky, I understand that you are scared, but you are going to be okay,” Dr. Banner assures him confidently. “I'm going to bring you a cup of water and then I'm going to examine you to make sure that nothing's wrong with any of you. Is this okay with you?”  
“Yes,” Bucky answers after taking a few deep breaths.   
When Banner arrives with his water the shaking has stopped, anguish is still crushing his stomach, but he seems to have regained the control of the rest of his body.  
The doctor notices this and tells him: “When you feel ready, just go behind that screen and sit on the examination chair and we will start with your blood pressure.”  
Bucky takes a few sips, buying himself some time to calm his nerves and that was probably what Dr. Banner intended all along. When he takes his seat behind the screen, Banner rolls up his sleeve and takes his blood pressure. “It is a little high,” he comments, “but you are clearly stressed so I'm not overly concerned for now. I need to know your weight, could you hop on this scale please?”  
Dr. Banner notes down his weight on his file and asks him: “Do you have any problem with food?”  
“I don't feel really hungry, probably because of the stress, but I feed myself and the food stays down,” Bucky informs him.  
“That's good. Until you know what you want to do, I would advise you not to eat any raw meat, raw fish, raw cheese and to conscientiously wash any raw fruit or vegetables before eating them. And try to avoid sugar. Coffee and tea should be avoided as well. Obviously no alcohol and no drugs and no smoking, if you need to quit or if you forget what foods are forbidden, all the information will be in one of the leaflets I gave you.”  
“I don't do drugs and I don't smoke,” he's still in a daze, is this why the doctor talks to him about drugs or does he do it with all his pregnant patients?  
“That's good Bucky,” he tells him with a smile. “Now I would like to take an ultrasound, however, because of the foetus's size, I won't be able to see anything from the outside. I have an ultrasound machine that goes inside to allow me to see what's going on in there,” and Banner points at Bucky's hand that's still clenched on his midsection. “Can we do this now or do you want to take another appointment and do this another day?”  
Bucky's a little surprised, he didn't know that you could take an ultrasound from the inside, but hey, he never intended to get pregnant and he had not researched the subject, or talked about that kind of stuff with his sister when she was pregnant herself. It is scary, but the misscarriage talk was even more scary. “No, let's do this now,” Bucky says with more confidence than he has shown until now.  
“Okay, then you can take off your bottoms and come back on the examination seat,” Banner instructs him while he puts some gloves on. When Bucky's in place he explains, “First I will use my fingers to make sure everything's how it's supposed to be down there, then, I will insert the ultrasound machine.”  
Bucky breathes and tries to relax his muscles, Dr. Banner examines him and tells him everything seems fine before using the ultrasound machine, he moves it in circles, searching. It isn't painful but it's not comfortable either. “Here we are,” Banner announces, “I found the foetus, everything looks normal, but at this stage of the pregnancy it is really small and I can't predict that things will remain that way, but I can't see anything wrong either. Do you want to see?”  
“Yeah,” Bucky answers although he thinks that if it is this small, he's not sure he will recognize the shape of a foetus, but Banner turns the computer screen with the ultrasound picture towards him and points towards a tiny spot with a pen and tells him that's what he's looking for. Bucky's mind goes blank. This is what causes him so much anxiety, this tiny little thing is actually turning his world upside down and making him run to the bathroom to empty his bladder a dozen times a day in the process...  
“Do you want to listen to its heartbeat?” Banner asks him softly.  
“It has a heartbeat?” Bucky asks stupidly. How can something so small have a functioning heart?  
“Yes, and it beats very quickly, a foetus's heartbeat is a lot faster than that of a human adult, it slows down with time, but a newborn has a fast heartbeat too, even children's are quicker than an adult's. So do I put the speakers on?”  
“Yeah,” Bucky feels compelled to hear it, not by Banner, but by his primal's instinct. The rapid 'thump thump thump' he hears sound alien in his ears, but the doctor's gentle but genuine smile is reassuring. “So far so good,” he tells Bucky. Then he turns off the sound and gently removes the ultrasound machine. “There's nothing worrying, you can put your clothes back on, we are done for today, however I would just like to ask you if you could call someone to bring you back home as you still look quite shaken, maybe this friend you told me about earlier?”  
“Okay, I'll text her,” he says, because his head is in turmoil and not going home alone feels like a really good idea.”  
“While you wait for her, book another appointment in five week's time with another ultrasound, but if you experience any bleeding before then, go straight to the obstetric ER. Bleedings can occur for many reasons more or less worrying, it's best if we can figure out which one as soon as possible,” Banner instructs him, his explanations unsettling and reassuring at the same time.  
“Okay,” Bucky says again.  
“Also, it often helps people who are going through a rough patch to know that they aren't alone, and whatever you ultimately chose to do, people have done it before you and you can meet and talk to them in support groups, or chat with them or just read about their experience online. There are contacts and Internet links on each leaflet I gave you,” Banner informs him.  
Bucky thanks him, then they say goodbye and he walks out of the doctor's office. He first texts Nat who immediately texts him back 'On my way', although he knows she's at work. Then he goes to the bathroom because he has to pee again. Once he's done, he goes and books his next appointment and finally he sits down in the waiting room, waiting for Natasha to come and pick him up.  
Sitting there, he starts thinking about everything Dr. Banner told him, and as his words echo in his head he realizes that he knows what to do.  
He is not a pathetic, frail and helpless Omega.  
He is Bucky Barnes.  
And Bucky Barnes has to pull his shit together.  
Bucky Barnes is strong enough to face whatever challenge life threw in his way.  
Now was no longer the time to be afraid, now it was the time to start thinking and playing the game with the cards he was dealt.  
As he has found his resolve, Natasha's gotten here. “How are you holding up,” she asks him full of concern.  
“I'm better now,” he answers and his voice is no longer weak, no longer hesitant. He stares in her eyes and adds: “I'm keeping it.”  
She doesn't say a thing but engulfs him in a hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, Bucky's made his decision...  
> At first I thought that I'd end this part with Bucky still indecisive when the appointment is over, but while writing I realized that this was his turning point and wrote a little more to show it.  
> Than you for reading this!


	4. Back with Nat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> About a year later, Bucky tells Natasha about his life as a parent (and how gross it can be) and more stuff happens...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is some kind of an epilogue, but it's about as long as the other chapters...

About a year later...  
“So James, what's your poison? Coffee? Tea? Orange juice?” Natasha asks him as he takes his place at her breakfast bar.  
“Herbal tea please,” he answers. “Little Joe still doesn't sleep through the night and I'm not breast-feeding him anything that would prevent him even more from sleeping.”  
“That bad?”  
“That bad,” Bucky confirms.  
“You can go nap if you want, I won't be mad,” she assures him while getting some water to boil.  
“I need to spend time with an adult who does not have a child more than I need a nap,” he tells her. “Plus, Steve said he would take care of him all day, so when I go home, I'll just feed little Joe and then I'll go nap all afternoon.”  
“That's so sweet of Steve, I would have thought that he would have wanted to keep you both all to himself.”  
“He said that I looked exhausted, that I needed a day off and that he wanted to take this opportunity to bond with his son,” Bucky explains.  
“It must not be easy for him, not being able to live with you guys,” she sympathises while pouring him his tea.  
“At least he was able to change his posting, he can visit us more often now that he is at Camp Lehigh in New Jersey, it meant the world to me that he was with me when Joe was born.”  
“It meant the world to him too, you just have to look at your pictures and his gigantic smile on them. He was really happy and proud of his tiny new born son sleeping in his huge paws... Is bacon and eggs okay with you?,” she asks, changing the subject.  
“Yeah, sure,” he answers, but as she starts to cook he makes a face.  
Natasha notices and asks him: “What's wrong?”  
“Don't know, it smells funny,” he says.  
“It smells perfectly normal!” she retorts, a little affronted, before serving them both.  
Bucky takes a bite, chews a little, then runs to the bathroom.  
“What happened to you?” Natasha demands to know as he comes back to sit at her breakfast bar.  
“Sorry,” he apologizes, “I must have caught the stomach flu, I've been feeling a little under the weather those last few days, but it's the first time I'm actually puking.”  
“James?” she calls his name.  
“What?” he asks.  
“Do you know what causes nausea in the morning?”  
“I'm not pregnant Nat,” he assures her. “Besides, I haven't had morning sickness at all when I was.”  
“All pregnancies are different James,” she warns him...  
“I am breast-feeding and haven't had any heats since Joe was born,” he tells her.  
“Breast-feeding isn't exactly the most efficient contraceptive method, and after a birth, some Omegas do get pregnant without going through a heat...”  
“I know Nat,” Bucky sighs.  
“So you are still using condoms...” she says.  
“We are,” he begrudgingly confirms, then stabs into his bacon once more and looks at his fork with distaste before nipping at the offending food with his teeth. Eventually he puts it back on his plate.  
“What?” Nat asks him.  
“We did have another condom accident and realized it only after the deed was done,” Bucky muses and Natasha raises her eyebrows. “But I took the morning after pill...”  
“So you do learn,” Natasha states with her usual sass.  
“I spent most of my nights during my pregnancy alone in bed, I've had time to look things up,” he tells her before going for his scrambled eggs instead of the bacon this time. He chews a long time, swallows with difficulty and then... runs back to the bathroom to pray to the porcelain god once more. When he comes back he tells Nat, “I've got to go.”  
“Home?” she asks.  
“No, to buy a pregnancy test,” he corrects her assumption.  
“But I thought...”  
“The morning after pill is efficient only 95% of the time,” he cuts her, “and I never puke more than once, not even when I have the stomach flu.”  
“I'm coming with you,” she says.  
“What if I'm wrong and it is the flu?” he asks of her.  
“I'm not afraid of no bugs, I'll take my chances,” she winks at him and leaves to collect her purse before heading out of her apartment with him. “You don't look upset this time,” she comments.  
“I'm too tired to be upset,” he answers and as Natasha quirks a disbelieving eyebrow at him, he elaborates: “Since little Joe is here, I've learnt to live in the moment like a wolf, one day at a time. Nevertheless I'll probably freak out tomorrow morning if the test is positive.”  
“That's more like the James I know,” she says and chuckles a little.  
“Hey! Don't mock me!” Bucky scolds Natasha. “Taking care of a baby is a lot of work, taking care of a newborn and a toddler would be even more challenging!”  
“I'm sure it would, but I'm sure that if anyone can do it, it would be you,” she tries to placate him.  
“I might just survive the experience,” he jokes. “More seriously, having another unexpected pregnancy so close to the first one is a scary thought, but I do have an amazing Alpha partner who will be home for good and back to civilian life in a few months to help me. Like a wolf I also have an amazing pack composed of family and friends, old and new, ready to help us raise our pups, so I'm not as worried as I was last year.”  
“You talking about your new buddies? Sam and what's his name again?” she asks.  
“Riley, it's Sam and Riley,” Bucky tells her. “It's amazing that they've been going through the same things we have, with Sam away fighting in the Air Force when Riley learned that he was pregnant and neither of them expected this either. It's been comforting to know that we aren't alone, and it's even better that we go along so well. The four of us only got to meet in the flesh once and Steve's already best buddy with Sam!”  
“I'm glad you met new friends,” Natasha tells him, then adds with a smirk: “as long as I remain your best friend”   
“Always,” he promises her.  
She smiles at him and they walk in silence for a while, but then she says: “I hope you're pregnant, I'm still jealous that you picked your sister as Joe's godmother rather than me.”  
“I am her daughter's godfather, I had to return the favor, besides it is the godmother's duty to change their godchild's diaper when they are with them,” Bucky retorts.  
“Don't think I can do it?” she asks.  
“I'm sure you can do it, it's just that I didn't think you'd want to be peed on, is all.”  
“Did Joe ever pee on Becca?” Natasha wants to know.  
“No,” Bucky growls, “that honor is reserved to me only...” Natasha laughs heartily. “He even pooped on me once,” he keeps on, his tone more amused and grossed out than grumpy this time.  
“What?!” she exclaims and laughs even louder.  
“Yeah, while I was changing his nappy!” he elaborates. “I even saw it coming, I saw his muscles tightening and tried to get out of the way, but I was too slow and still got some on my t-shirt!”  
“Gross! But how?” she starts asking.  
“Well baby poo is really liquid and it sprayed about three feet away from him, the bathroom was a mess!” and at this point Bucky's laughing too. “And it was Saint Patrick's day and Steve was coming home for the week-end and we were supposed to take a family picture with our green t-shirts!”  
“Oh my God! So that's why you weren't on that picture Steve sent us, I wondered why you weren't on it!” Natasha exclaims.  
“I wasn't green enough to join them in the picture after that,” he pouts.  
She keeps laughing for a while, then calms down and says, “I still want to be the godmother of your next child, whether you are carrying it now or if it's just a stomach flu, then, later on.”  
“I promise you, that we'll choose no one else to be the godmother of our second child,” he solemnly tells her.  
“Then I hope it's a girl,” she says dreamily.  
Bucky raises his eyebrows in wonder and asks her: “Why? So that you can buy her frilly pink dresses?”  
“I most certainly won't!” she answers full of outrage. “No, I want to teach your daughter to flip a full grown male Alpha on his back even if she's 5'3 tall!”  
“Have you seen Steve and have you seen me? I'm a 6' tall Omega! No daughter of ours will be as small as you are!” he mocks her.  
“As a child, she will be smaller, and even if she grows up taller than me, I can still teach her self defence!” Natasha points out with a pout.  
“Sure you can,” Bucky agrees and laughs a little more then gives her a fond smile.  
They walk in silence for a little while, then Natasha asks him a little shy: “Once you know that you are pregnant and if Steve can't come with you, will you let me accompany you to the doctor's again?”  
“If you want to, sure,” he answers before asking: “Why?”  
“Well, your doctor's kind of cute...” she confesses coyly.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it, I hope you've enjoyed the ride!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who left/will leave kudos and comments ! <3


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